“(Officials say) ‘If I saw it, I would have called it’ — well, you know what? Your damn job is to see it,” Van Gundy said. “Referees, I love that. That’s an excuse: ‘I didn’t see it.’

“Why the hell do we have you out there? (Kennard) is the guy cutting — that’s where the ball is being passed. It’s not happening on the weak side of the floor. It’s embarrassing for them and for the league that they’re not going to make that call.”

The Pistons (30-39) have lost 13 of their last 16 games, which is a source for some of the frustration, too. They had a big comeback that fell short on Thursday in Denver and after getting the lead down to seven with 3:51 left, they were close, but after a final run, the Blazers were able to pull away.

“I’ve been here for four years and I’ve been many more years before that and I’ve never come in after a game (like this) — never,” Van Gundy said. “I might have talked about one call, but I’ve never come in after a game and talked like this. That was embarrassing — we got absolutely screwed tonight.

“Our guys were fighting hard and playing hard. I’ve gotten on them at times, but they played really hard and fought really hard. Portland played hard, too, but it’s a lot easier to play hard when you can get away with everything they got away with.”